Censorship at the deYoung

I was thrilled to post last week that Majime Sugiru's parody of the "Samurai" exhibit was being shown as an installation at last Friday's College Night at the deYoung Museum along with other work selected by a jury. However, when i visited his area, there were obvious ommissions, obvious because there were many blank spaces where there should have been something. I asked Majime about it and he said that the museum wanted the content removed. He was busy talking to people so i couldn't get the details of what happened. It was my understanding that the work that was showcased that evening was chosen by the de Young jury which is not only an honor but impressive to have on one's resume (however, the location of the work was less than ideal).

I got a detailed account from that evening and according to the Asians Art Museum blog, the museum staff asked Majime and his group to remove a large portion of the content one hour before the opening. The details of what happened that evening can be found here but it looks like there were major communication problems on the deYoung Museum side. I have had this kind of experience where i used to work and feel Majime's frustrations. It made me angry to read how this was handled and the silly thing is that it could have been avoided.
I am sorry to have missed the whole installation - it sounded interesting and i would have liked to have read the criticism of the work, which was included in the display. I was glad however, to walk away with a souvenir parody pamphlet.
I included the work of another selected artist, Terrance Graven from San Francisco State University. It was difficult to get a proper image of his work because of the location. All the selected pieces were surrounding the music stage/dance area and therefore were sort of lost in the midst of the crowd. I know full well what an honor it is to show your work in a prestigious museum like the de Young but I cringe when i see work displayed like this, in what i would say borders on the disrespectful. Some large pieces, graphic in nature, worked well next to the performers but some of the sensitive pieces could have used more thought in their display.